European - Egyptian negotiations to promote trade

Egypt's assistant foreign minister for European affairs, Fathi El-Shazeli, confirmed yesterday that Egypt is currently negotiating with the European Union on regulating the European Union's trade with Egypt and developing a timetable of 12 years for attempting to open the European markets to Egyptian agricultural goods.

Ambassador El-Shazeli said Egyptian industry is able to enter European markets without any obstacles or customs restrictions, adding that the shares that were imposed on Egypt in an 1977 agreement are no longer adequate within Egypt's current production capabilities.